
Book__^AjT_ 



REPORT 



on the 



Condition of the Public Records 
of the State of New Jersey 



by a 



Committee of Citizens 



to the 



LEGISLATURE, SESSION OF 1917 



TRENTON, N. J. 
MacCrellish & Quigley Co., State Printers 

IQI7 



• 



. 



REPORT 



on the 



Condition of the Public Records 
of the State of New Jersey 



by a 



NewT^t Committee of Citizens 



to the 



LEGISLATURE, SESSION OF 1917 



v 



TRENTON, N. J. 
MacCrellish & Quigley Co., State Printers 

IQI7 






D. of D. 
APR 18 191 7 



To the Members of the New Jersey Legislature: 

Gentlemen — The undersigned, a committee of citizens of 
New Jersey interested in the preservation and retrievement of 
the public records, have the honor to submit their Report on the 
Condition of the Public Records of the State of New Jersey 
and Municipalities Thereof. It is based upon original investiga- 
tions instituted by this Committee, and prepared free of public 
expense. 

The report covers a large subject in a general way, briefly 
stating many pertinent facts in relation thereto, so that the whole 
can be quickly grasped. 



(3) 



THE REPORT. 



Intelligence has no. doubts as to the .great importance of pro- 
tecting and preserving public records. Public records are memory 
in the concrete. They are the links of civilization through the 
ages. 

European Archives. 

For centuries nearly every European country has systematically 
preserved its public records. In England, especially, will be found 
the British Museum and the Public Record Office, containing 
records for a thousand years, which are so accurately arranged 
as to be available easily for either historical purposes or as evi- 
dence in court. 

American Archives. 

In the United States no methodical plan of archives for public 
documents was inaugurated during the first century of its ex- 
istence. 

Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Maryland, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Illinois and other States 
have in the years since the first centennial of our nation enacted 
legislation for the safeguarding and restoration of public records. 
The States of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, West Vir- 
ginia, Alabama. Mississippi and others have especially illumined 
the way in this necessary work by establishing either a Depart- 
ment of 'Archives or a Department of Public Records. For 
more than a quarter of a century the Bay State has continued 
the work, until now its records of the past are almost wholly 
retrieved and methods are ordered by law protecting records in 
the making and the keeping, from the smallest hamlet to the 
greatest of municipal departments; and this undertaking has 

(5) 



been more recently and successfully followed in the States of 
New York and Connecticut. In this endeavor they are but re- 
sponding to an impulse common and natural to all people as the 
years of their maturity lengthen. 

Of all the States of the Union, New Jersey has premier cause 
and greatest need for care in protecting its records of the past, 
and in safeguarding the making of its records now and for the 
future. 

Condition of the Public Records of New Jersey. 

The innumerable details associated with this broad subject can 
be more readily and intelligently grasped by speaking of them in 
terms of generality, and furnishing specific illustrations under 
appropriate titles. 

Retained State Papers. 

It is a matter of serious concern to know that, with respect 
to the ancient records of New Jersey, there exist to-day in the 
State House thousands of pieces of original manuscripts scattered 
here and there in boxes or tied up in bundles and otherwise, 
receiving practically no* care or attention, and which are more 
or less accessible to the marauder. Necessarily they are not 
accessible for public inspection ; nor have they been collated or 
calendared, but a superficial examination of them demonstrates 
their historical value, pertaining as they do< to most. every phase 
of the government and of the development of New Jersey from 
1676 to 1825, and later. 

Abstracted Records. 

One of the most alarming features connected with our ancient 
records has been their abstraction, a practice which has been in 
vogue for more than a century; and our investigations show 
that a large portion of them are now possessed and controlled 
by private interests, to the exclusion of the citizens of this State 



who are by law entitled to a gratuitous examination of them for 
legitimate purposes. 

On their face these papers are Public Documents of New Jer- 
sey, and constitute part of our most precious and valuable treas- 
ures. These missing documents consist in part of cuch manu- 
scripts of exceptional value as the royal grants — leases and 
releases — of the territory and government of the Province of 
New Jersey and of East and West Jersey, respectively; the 
quintipartite deed dividing- the province into East and West Jer- 
sey ; the concessions and agreements between the proprietors 
and inhabitants of West Jersey ; and the instrument surrender- 
ing, the powers of government of the Proprietors to the Crown 
in 1702. 

The remainder of the manuscripts missing are chiefly the royal 
instructions to the governors; messages of the governors to 
the general assembly; journals of the governor and council, and 
of the general assembly; petitions and memorials to the gov- 
ernor, and to the legislative assembly ; correspondence and official 
letter books of the governors; journals of the provincial con- 
gress, petitions, memorials and other miscellaneous papers con- 
nected therewith; journals of the first constitutional convention; 
minutes and dockets of the various courts; town and township 
records ; boundary line papers ; muster and pay rolls, and other 
military papers ; vital statistics ; church records ; and a variety 
of miscellaneous papers and records of historical importance 
incident to the established government, and to the social and 
economic condition of the people, extending from 1664 down to 
the early portion of the nineteenth century. A selection of these 
missing papers will be found calendared in Appendix A. 



Cause of Abstraction. 

The abstraction of our ancient records from the various de- 
partments of the State government, and from the municipalities 
thereof, is not a new discovery. It may be traced to three dis- 
tinct causes. 



8 

First. In the time of the past, the public records of New Jer- 
sey were regarded by their proper custodians as the private prop- 
erty of the individual holding office, because, under the fee sys- 
tem, he was required to purchase all of his stationery ; and for 
this reason many records and official papers were retained by 
the retiring official from office. This was the personal observa- 
tion of Mr. William A. Whitehead, and by him publicly expressed 
as early as 1854. (N. J. Hist. Society Proceedings, 1st Series, 
Vol. VII, p, 88; see Id. Vol. IX, p. 5.) 

Second. There can be no question but that many of the public 
records were also obtained by persons through the medium of 
the courteous public officials, and otherwise acquired by them 
under the lax system which then— and now to some extent — - 
prevailed in many of the public repositories, occasioned in part 
by the overcrowded condition of the record vaults. The easy 
manner in which many papers of historical interest were procur- 
able in the by-gone days is exemplified by the number that can 
now be found filed with the revolutionary pension claims of 
Jerseymen in the Pension Bureau at Washington. 

Third. There lis ample evidence to show that many very valu- 
able records were obtained by persons after they had been cast 
away from their proper places by their indifferent and careless 
custodians. This practice is clearly pointed out in a statement 
made by the late William Nelson in the "Pater son Guardian" 
for March 10, 191 3, when favoring the passage of a pending 
legislative measure providing" for the preservation of our public 
records, which, in part, read : 

"There is need for something of the kind. The care- 
lessness regarding the old records of counties, townships 
and even cities is deplorable. When the Passaic county 
records were moved to the new court house a number of 
older books \vere thrown away. I found among them 
the original record book of Saddle River township and 
have it yet. Sometimes the descent of estates depends 
upon these records. Yet they are thrown away as of no 
value by people who either do not take the trouble to 



9 

inquire about their importance or do not care if they do 
know. 

"The same thing happened in Essex count)- and I sup- 
pose it has everywhere. By and by a case will come up 
in the courts that needs the information maintained in 
these records to secure the rights of an individual, or a 
family. Meantime they have been destroyed, as I have 
outlined. 

"I believe this bill is a necessity, and outlines a method 
by which such difficulties will be prevented in the future. 



DISPOSITION OF ABSTRACTED PAPERS. 

Usually the abstracted archives referred to are kept intact in 
certain families for generations ; sometimes they are divided 
among them, and by- them given away to individuals, historical 
and geneological societies within and beyond the State, or sold 
at auction in the larger cities of the United States. They have 
otherwise been disposed of by will to private interests ; abstracted 
in bulk and offered for sale ; and in rare instances they have 
inadvertently reverted back to the State, and have been otherwise 
acquired by consent, by purchase, and by demand. These varied 
conditions are briefly illustrated as follows : 

PAPERS RETAINED IN PRIVATE FAMILIES. 

The original grants — leases and releases — given by James, 
Duke of York, for the territory and government of the Province 
of New Jersey, and of East and West Jersey, respectively, ac- 
companied with near two hundred kindred papers, are now pos- 
sessed by a certain family residing in an adjoining State, as is 
the quintepartite deed for the division of the province into East 
and West Jersey. A celandar of a few of these papers will more 
particularly illustrate their value : 

Original lease for a year from James, Duke of York', 

to Lords Berkley and Carteret, for the whole of New 

Jersey, dated June 23, 1664. 



IO 

Original release of the same, June 24, 1664. 
Original lease for a year from James, Duke of York, 
to Sir George Carteret for half of northern New Jersey, 
dated July 28, 1674. 

Original release of the same, July 29, 1674. 
Original instructions from Sir George Carteret for 
the government of his province, July 31, 1674. 

Original quintepartite deed between Sir George Car- 
teret, Win Penn, Nicholas Lucas, Gawen Lawrie and 
Edward Bylling'e, dated July 1, 1676, dividing the prov- 
ince into East and West Jersey. 

Original release of Elizabeth Carteret, widow and 
executrix, and the trustees of Sir George, to the first 
Twelve Proprietors for all of East Jersey, dated January 
1, 1681-2. 

Original release of James, Duke of York, to- Edward 
Byllinge, Wm. Penn, Sawen Lawrie, Nicholas Lucas, 
John Eldridge and Edmund Warner, for West Jersey, 
dated August 6, 1680. 

Original deed from William Penn to Robert Barclay, 
for i/24th of East Jersey, dated September 22, 1682. 

Original order of the Proprietors relative to laying- 
out of lands, and censuring Governors Law r rie and Rud- 
yard for their manner of doing it, dated July 3, 1685. 

Revocation of all Governor Lawrie' s powers by order 
of the Proprietors, 1687. 
The deed from James, Duke of York, for West Jersey, dated 
August 6, 1680, and "The Concessions and Agreements of the 
proprietors, freeholders and inhabitants of West Jersey," bear- 
ing date March 3, 1675-6, was a few years ago possessed by a 
certain person residing in New Jersey. 

More than a century and a quarter ago a certain official of 
one of the most important record offices of the State abstracted 
nearly all the records of his office upon his retirment therefrom ; 
and his successor did likewise when he withdrew some sixteen 
years later. These papers are now held intact by their respec- 
tive descendants residing in New Jersey. The records of the 



II 

first official referred to have 'been examined by a member of 
this committee. They contain matter of rare historical interest, 
but they were too numerous for us to calendar. They are packed 
away loosely and otherwise in boxes and trunks in sufficient 
quantity to load a single wagon. The present head of the family 
expresses a willingness to turn them over to the State authorities 
should anyone be duly authorized to receive them. 

There is said to be a large collection of State documents be- 
longing to a family previously of New Jersey in storage in a 
neighboring city, which will probably be offered for sale at 
auction in the near future. The advice comes from a reliable 
source, but for prudent reasons no specific inquiry has been made 
of them 

•PRIVATE DONATION OF RECORDS. 

In the course of research we have been enabled to obtain many 
lists of valuable State papers which have been donated. by per- 
sons to certain individuals and other private interests, a selec- 
tion of which will be found calendared under Appendix A. It 
is noteworthy to mention that some of them have been possessed 
by Virginia families, and that the famous Answer to the Eliza- 
bethtown Bill in Chancery was given to a certain geneological 
society. 

DISPOSITION OP RECORDS BY WILL. 

One of the most remarkable instances coming to our knowl- 
edge in the disposition of public records is one in which a certain 
prominent citizen of the State, who, after disposing to a certain 
person by his last will and testament — duly probated — ''many 
documents relating to the general history cnf the State, ilts 
settlement, &c." (evidently State papers), bequeathed to certain 
private interests "my bound volumes of manuscripts lettered 
'Xev Jersey Manuscripts,' 'Boundary Papers,' original 'Minutes 
of the Provincial Congress,' 'Minutes of the Legislature,' and 
other Xew Jersey miscellaneous documents that may not be 



12 

especially desired by menibers of my family; '* * *." The 
"Minutes of the Legislature'' more specifically refers to the 
original manuscript Journals of the General Assembly for the 
years 1751-1752; 1777, 1778, 1779; 1 780-1 781 ; -1782-1874; 
1 786- 1 788- 1 790; 1 806- 1 808. 

ACQUISITION OF RECORDS. 

In 1870 the late Hon. Garret D. W. Vroom, by mere chance, 
obtained several invaluable manuscript records from a negro 
man-servant of a deceased statesman, who was ignorant of their 
value, and who found them in clearing up the house and office of 
his late employer in Trenton. They consisted of the Journal of 
the Governor and Council of East Jersey from December 1, 
1682, to April 29, 1703 ; Minutes of the Assembly from Novem- 
ber 10, 1703, to January 31, 17 10; and the Journal of the 
Council of Safety in 1 777-1 778. They had been in private pos- 
session for no one knows how long, and upon their recovery they 
were immediately deposited in the State Library by Judge Vroom. 

ACQUISITION OF RECORDS BY CONSENT. 

Some eight years ago Dr. Carlos E. Godfrey, in pursuit of his 
official duties, discovered a -quantity of original muster rolls of 
New Jersey troops in the Revolutionary War in possession of 
the state authorities of Massachusetts at Boston. Upon repre- 
sentations made to the Executive of that Commonwealth, the lat- 
ter induced the Legislature to consent to their return to the State 
of New Jersey, 

ACQUISITION OE RECORDS BY PURCHASE. 

On April 6, 1910, by direction of Governor Fort, the Docket 
of the Supreme Court of the Colony of New Jersey from 1763 
to 1770, and the Docket of the Burlington County Court from 
June Term, 1765, to October Term, 1772, were purchased at 
public auction in New York City. 



13 

Again, from another auction house in New York, on June 17, 
19 1 3, was purchased by direction of Governor Fielder the original 
Minutes of the Governor and Council from September 26 to 
October 26, 1770, and from March 11 to May 16, 1774; besides 
many other interesting and valuable manuscript State documents 
of Xew Jersey. 



ACQUISITION OF RECORDS BY DEMAND. 

About 1873, Colonel James S. Kiger, formerly of the Ad- 
jutant-General's Office, discovered an immense quantity of origi- 
nal military papers and other kindred records at the residence of 
a former State official, then deceased, who had abstracted them 
from the files of his office. Upon demand they were surrendered 
to the State. 

AM thou t being more definite, some years ago upon the death 
of a certain prominent State official, the vaults of his record 
office were ransacked after business hours by certain persons 
having access thereto, for the purpose of gathering together what 
they conceived were the private papers of the deceased. Subse- 
quently, however, one of the principal auction houses in a 
neighboring city issued a catalogue for circulation, containing a 
calendar of the individual manuscripts alleged to belong to the 
estate of the deceased official, wiith an announced date of their 
sale. ' 

Nearly every item offered for sale in the catalogue showed 
upon its face that the original was a State Document. In 
abundance were to be found such important documents as the 
original Minutes of the Council and General Assembly ; Messages 
of the Governors ; Petitions to the General Assembly : and other 
innumerable papers and records belonging directly to the deced- 
ent's public office of the greatest historical importance. Upon 
the personal demand of the Governor on the executors of this 
estate for the immediate return of these papers to the State 
House, near two* thousand priceless records were restored to the 
archives of the State. It is fair to sav, however, that it is not 



14 

believed that the official referred to ever claimed ownership to 
the papers in question. 

Within the last two years another large collection of New 
Jersey State documents of unusual historical value was adver- 
tised to be sold by a certain auction house in New York City, 
alleged to belong to the estate of a prominent citizen # of New 
Jersey. Following the precedent established in the former case, 
Governor Fielder instructed the Attorney-General to demand 
their immediate return to the State House, or upon failure there- 
of to institute proceedings for their recovery. Through this 
agency the collection was promptly surrendered and delivered in 
Trenton to the attorney specially retained to enforce their return 

A selection of some of the most important papers of the few 
thousand that have either been offered for sale or sold at public 
auction within the past fifteen years have been calendared in 
Appendix B, to illustrate their general character. 

Abstraction of Special, Documents, 
collections of the secretary of state. 

In the Harvard University Library will be found, in the 
"Sparks' Collection," a series of transcripts made in June, 1826, 
by Jared Sparks, the historian, selectee! from originals then in the 
Office of the Secretary of State of New Jersey, of which the 
following is the inventory — indicating that these papers were 
then in the possession oi the State : 

"Memorial of The New Jersey brigade, Apr. 17, 1779. 
Letters from Washington, 1 777-1 780; 1782, 1783. Let- 
ters from Gen. Heath, Robert Morris, Franklin, Henry 
Laurens. 

Proceedings of a Commission, Mar. 26, 1777, etc., to 
regulate the. price of labor. 

Declaration of Maryland, 1778. 
Convention at Hartford, 1780. 

Secretary of Congress, Aug. 24, 1785, to the Governor 
of New Jersey. 



Letters of Abraham Clark, 1780, 1781. 
Correspondence of Washington and William Maxwell, 
U79- 

Letters from New Jersey troops, 1779. 
Letters of William C. Houston (1780); John Fell 
(1779) ; Nathaniel Scudder (1778) ; Washington (1777) ; 
Elias Boudinot (1777) ; and Daniel Colman (1777)." 
It is scarcely necessary to say that none of the originals in the 
above list of documents can now be found anywhere in the State's 
possession. 

Livingston's correspondence. 

In 1848, by authority of a joint resolution of the Legislature 
approved March 9th, of that year, a publication was issued, enti- 
tled "Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of 
New Jersey from 1776 to 1786.'' It necessarily contained the 
correspondence from and to William Livingston, Governor of 
New Jersey from 1776 to 1790. 

The published Senate Journal for January 17, 1848, as doej 
the resolution itself, shows that the originals of this correspond- 
ence were then located both in the State Library and the Office of 
the Secretary of State. But, like the collection of manuscripts 
which Jared Sparks copied in the latter office in 1826, the origi- 
nals have disappeared from the archives of the State. The col- 
lection was undoubtedly abstracted from the State, and after- 
wards disintegrated as evidenced by the fact that the original let- 
ters from Jonathan D. Sergeant to the Speaker of the Assembly, 
dated Baltimore, February 6, 1777, and from Abraham Clark to 
the Speaker of the Assembly, dated Baltimore, February 8,. ,777 
— represented in the publication referred to at pages 24 and 25, 
respectively — now form part of the "Emmet Collection of Manu- 
scripts" in the New York Public Library and respectively known 
as items No. 795 and No. 2862. 

However, in January, i860, the original correspondence of 
Governor Livingston's, then bound in seven large folio volumes 
and containing about one thousand letters, was offered for sale 



i6 

to certain interests in New Jersey by Mr. C, B. Norton, of New- 
York City. Subsequently, Mr. Norton disposed of the collec- 
tion to Mr. Samuel L. M. Barlow, of New York; and after the 
death of the latter, it was acquired by a wealthy gentleman resid- 
ing in New Jersey through a public sale effected in the American 
Art Galleries, in the City of New York, on February 8, 1890, 
for the sum of $240.00. The auctioneer's catalogue described 
The Livingston Correspondence, in part, in the following lan- 
guage : 

"This famous collection of over 1,000 Letters, Peti- 
tions, &s., for the most part addressed to William Livings- 
ton, while he held the position of Governor of New 
Jersey, is generally of an official character, the earliest, 
1775, the latest, 1782, * * *. The whole carefully 
mounted and bound in 8 folio volumes, half Russia (in a 
wooden case), including a complete Index and Digest 
of the whole." 
Without seeing this collection of manuscripts, it is impossible 
to say whether, it is composed of the same identical papers of 
Governor Livingston's which was possessed by the State in 1848. 
It is sufficient to say, however, that when Chief Justice Green saw 
Mr. Norton's collection in January, i860, he expressed a decided 
personal opinion that they were part of the official correspondence 
of a Governor of New Jersey, and necessarily constituted a por- 
tion of the archives of the State (See N. J. Hist. Society Pro- 
ceedings, i%t Series, Vol. IX, p. 5). 

MINUTES OF THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 

The original Minutes of the Provincial Congress of New 
Jersey in 1775 and 1776, once possessed by the State, were 
given away to certain private interests by the last will and testa- 
ment of a gentleman probated many years ago. 

Some sixty years ago the original memorials, petitions and 
other communications presented to the Provincial Congress were 
possessed by a particular family in Virginia, who then turned 
them over to certain private interests in New Jersey, where they 
now remain. 



Other papers presented before the Provincial Congress in 1775 
and 1776 were offered for sale at auction in New York in No* 
vember, 191 5, but upon the demand of Governor Fielder they 
were surrendered to the State. 



JOURNALS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 

The manuscript -journals of the convention which framed the 
first Constitution of Xew Jersey in 1776, previously possessed 
by the State, are now in the custody and control of certain 
private interests. 

REVOLUTIONARY MILITARY ROLLS. 

Bv the language expressed in Joint Resolution No. VI, ap- 
proA-ed March 9, 1881 (Laws of 1881, p. 307), the muster and 
pay rolls of the troops of New Jersey in the revolutionary war 
were loaned by the State authorities to the general government 
at Washington, for the purpose of verifying the claims against 
the United States for pension and bounty lands, and were never 
returned to the State. 

OTHER WAR ROLLS. 

In a certain geneological society of one of the New England 
States will be found several cavalry rolls of New Jersey troops 
engaged in the Pensylvania Whiskey Insurrection in 1794. They 
consist of the Pay Roll of the Field and Staff and the Major's 
command of the 2d New Jersey Cavalry; the Pay Rolls of 
Captains Henry . nderveer's and William Steel's troops: and 
the Muster Roll of Captain Bernard Hanlon's troop from Tren- 
ton; which, of course belongs to the State of New Jersev. 

In another State will be found a mass of original rolls of New 
Jersey troops for the year 171 5, and on the face of them they 
are State property. They consist of the Muster Rolls of Colonel 
Thomas Farmer's Militia Regiment, comprising seven companies, 
with a record of 579 officers and men; the Muster Roll of 

2 REC 



i8 

Captain Joseph Seeley's Company "ye South Side of Cohansey, 
November the 16 Anno Dom 171 5," comprising 74 officers and 
men ; the Muster Roll of Captain Daniel Rumsey's Company 
"in ye county of Salem," comprising 134 officers and men; 
the Muster Roll of Captain John Lloyd's Company "In Piles 
Grove in ye County of Salem/' comprising 59 officers and men; 
the Muster Roll of Captain Enloye's Company, from Penns Neck, 
Salem County, comprising! 75 officers and men; and the Muster 
Roll of Lieutenant Thomas Maskell's Company, comprising 85 
officers and men. 

LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS. 

The First Report of the Public Record Commission, published 
in 1899, contains the following paragraph on page 4: 

"Your Commissioners desire to call especial attention to 
the remarkable fact that there does not exist in New Jer- 
sey a complete set of the laws of the Colony, Province 
and State; nor is there known to exist anywhere a com- 
plete record of the Legislative proceedings from 1665." 
With respect to the Legislative Proceedings on page 21 of 
this report the Commission say: "The Proceedings of the 
various Legislative bodies of New Jersey during the Proprietary 
or Colonial period appear in all sorts of out-of-the-way places : 
In the records of the Freehold or Middletown Town Meetings ; 
in the records of the Monmouth County Court of Common 
Right; in the records of the courts of Cape May, Salem, Bur- 
lington and Woodbury; in the records of the Supreme Court, 
at Trenton; in the Book of Patents and Deeds, in the office of 
the Secretary of State at Trenton, and perhaps elsewhere." 

This statement is subsequently followed by a Bibliography of 
the Printed Proceedings of the Provincial Assembly from 17 10 
.to 1776, which shows that the Proceedings for the following 
dates are not possessed by the State in the State l Library : 
Dec. 6, 1 710, to Feb. 10, 1710-11. 
July 6, 1711, to July 16, 171 1. 
Dec. 7, 1713, to Mar. 17, 1714. 



19 

Nov. 27, 1 716, to Jan. 26/1 716-7. 
Apr. 8, 1 718, to Apr. 12, 1718. 
Jan. 13, 1719, to Mar. 28, 1719. 
Mar. 7, 1722, to May 5, 1722. 
May 25, 1725, to Aug. 23, 1725. 
Dec. 9, 1727, to Feb. 10, 1728. 
Dec. 12, 1728, to Jan. 9, 1728-9. 
May 7, 1730, to July 8, 1730. 
Apr. 10, 1740, to July 31, 1740. 
*Oct. 2, 1741, to Nov. 4, 1 741. 
♦Oct. 10, 1743, to Dec. 10, 1743. 
Oct. 9, 1746, to Nov. 1, 1746. 
May 4, 1747, to May 9, 1747. 
Oct. 21, 1748, to Dec. 16, 1748. 
Sept. 25, 1749, to Oct. 20, 1749. 
June 3, 1754, to June 21, 1754. 
Apr. 24, 1755, to Apr. 26, 1755. 
*Mar. 9, 1756, to Mar. 16, 1756. 
♦Oct. ic, 1757, to Oct. 22, 1757. 
(* Imperfect copies.) 
This condition of our legislative proceedings creates a strong 
suspicion that many of these records were in the past abstracted 
from the collection intended to be kept by the State. Copy of 
many of these missing proceedings can be found in the Public 
Record Office in London, while others are to be found in certain 
public repositories in this country. 



Condition of Municipal Records. 

It was manifestly beyond the province of this Committee to 
investigate the condition of the public records contained in more 
than five hundred political divisions of the State. What we 
have said relative to the "Cause of Abstraction" of our ancient 
State records, page 5, applies with equal force to the municipal 
records. 



20 



LEGISLATIVE EXPOSURE. 



The congested conditions, and the loss and destruction of 
many of our municipal records, have been exposed by the Legis- 
lature in ,the preambles to Chapter 190 of the Laws of 1883 
(page 236), and Chapter 105 of the Laws of 1897 (page 193). 
In other legislative acts provision has been made from time to 
time for the preservation of maps and other records which 
have become obscure or mutilated by use (Laws 1889, p. 49; 
Id., p. 64; Laws 1902, p. 236; Laws 191 5, p. 167). 

Editorial Exposure. 

The editor of The Philadelphia Record, in the columns of his 
paper for May 31, 1915,. broadly states the deplorable condition 
of all public records in the following language : 

' 'There is something peculiarly American in the con- 
dition of affairs revealed by the effort of the State of 
New Hampshire to prevent the sale in this city of in- 
teresting Revolutionary letters and papers which it claims 
were taken from the State archives. Whether they were 
or not, there can be no doubt that it is true, as charged, 
that there has been the most shocking and inexcusable 
carelessness shown in the preservation of records, Na- 
tional, State and municipal, in practically every part of 
the country. Documents of great historic interest and 
value have been given away, stolen, sold or cast off as 
junk because the men supposed to> look after them 1 were 
too ; ignorant to know their importance or too dishonest 
to safeguard them. This is shown by the repeated ap- 
pearance in sales of letters, papers or records which are 
really official and which belong to the people as a whole. 
When they have passed into private hands it has generally 
been through crookedness or ignorant indifference to 
duty. 

"With the greater interest now taken in State and 
local historical matters it is probable that this dishonest 



21 

practice is much less common than it was, but evil has 
already been done. Priceless papers relating to the revo- 
lution and colonial history have been lost, and many be- 
longing to the Civil War era are constantly turning up in 
private collections. This is all indicative of a very crude 
and imperfect civilization. Collectors are largely to 
blame, and after them the negligent custodians. It is to 
be hoped that in the twentieth century we will show more 
intelligence and honesty in the matter." 

The editors of some of the leading newspapers of the State 
have expressed themselves, in part, as follows : 

The Jersey (City) Journal, March 13, ipi 3: "At present 
there is no place where old records can be kept, and many of 
them have been lost or thrown away as rubbish. 

"This is true mainly of local municipal records, and in no sec- 
tion has the damage from ignorance or carelessness been more 
felt than in Jersey City, where many of the old minute books 
and other records have been lost." 

The Sunday Call, Feb. 27, 19 16: "The true and complete 
story of this State cannot be told because of the carelessness and 
indifference with which its documents and masses of other ma- 
terial have been treated in the past. The history of Newark's 
two hundred and fifty years is but imperfectly told as a result 
of the same neglect from early days. This is more or less true 
of every community in New Jersey, and it is a condition which 
this commonwealth shares with all of the others. Every now 
and then we read of one document or another of priceless value 
being in the possession of some individual when it should be 
preserved for the benefit of all the people. * * * These old 
things have a certain practical educational value, distinct and 
apart from the sentimental. Properly preserved and intelli- 
gently made use of, they become a fixed asset to the State or 
the community where they are safely housed and exhibited. The 
modern public and private schools are steadily preparing the 
rising- generation for a far keener appreciation of the history of 
the neighborhood in which one lives." 



22 

Elizabeth Daily Journal, Feb. 29, igi6: "Documents of ^reat 
historical value are scattered throughout the State. Little effort 
has been made in the past to collect and file them in places of 
safety. Small interest has been taken in preserving masses of 
material relating to the past of our old commonwealth, its sep- 
arate counties and communities. * * * It is certainly high 
time that some definite action were taken in this direction." 

New Brunswick Times, Feb. 28, 1916: It is a matter of pub- 
lic knowledge that for years the public records and archives of 
the State and other political subdivisions, in more or less abun- 
dance, have frequently been catalogued and sold at public auction 
in the larger cities for fabulous sums. Some years ago a collec- 
tion of several thousand pieces of valuable New Jersey State 
records, advertised to be sold at auction, were recovered for the 
State by Governor Voorhees through a threat of their impound- 
ment if they were not forthwith returned. Under similar cir- 
cumstances and in like manner, another quantity was recently 
acquired by the direction of Governor Fielder. At other times 
both Governors Fort and Fielder have found it economical to 
purchase from their emergency fund small lots of important 
records from these auction sales." 

Daily State Gazette, Feb. 15, iyi6: "Too little attention has 
been paid to this important work (preservation of public rec- 
ords) in the past, with the result that many valuable records 
of the early history of the State have fallen into the hands of 
collectors of such documents and are sold as curiosities. Thev 
are really the property of the State, and should be in the State's 
keeping. 

"This is a work that other States have undertaken and are 
carrying on at considerable expense. New Jersey has an inter- 
esting history. There is no State in the Union that should be 
more vigilant in preserving its records than this, and there is 
probably no State in the Union that has been more indifferent 
to its duty in this direction." 

In the course of our investigations, however, we have accumu- 
lated certain information which will enable us to know some- 
thing relative to the condition of our municipal records. 



COUNTY RECORDS. 

In 1869 there existed an exceptional circumstance in the Sur- 
rogate's office of Bergen county, which endangered titles to 
property and of the rights of persons concerned therein. It was 
the case where a deceased surrogate had pocketed the fees of his 
office for about twenty-two consecutive years, without entering 
matters required by law to be made upon the record books of 
his office, such as the recording of wills, letters testamentary 
granted thereon and the like, and the proceedings of the Or- 
phan's Court for that county. ( See Xew Jersey Laws of 1869, 
p. 894.) 

The Third Annual Report of the Commissioner of Public 
Records of Massachusetts ( 1888) , in speaking of wood pulp in 
the manufacture of paper, incidentally said: "We could wch 
some trouble and expense give the experience of a county in New 
Jersey which had to replace a large number of record books on 
account of the first ones having so much wood in them." If 
these records deteriorated so rapidly, may it not be reasonable 
to assume that similar conditions may exist in other record 
offices within the State, where inferior blank records were pur- 
chased as cheaply as the conscience of the record official would 
admit under the fee system ? 

A "Docket of the Burlington County Court," from June 
Term, 1765, to October Term, 1772, was sold at auction in 
Xew York in April, 19 10, and purchased by the State for $75. 

The Poll Books of Camden County, 1 856-1 869, are now pos- 
sessed by private interests. 

The original "Proceedings of the Freeholders and Justices of 
Essex County," from 1735 to 1789, are now possessed by pri- 
vate interests. 

The "Docket of Gloucester County Court, A — 1754." from 
September Term, 1754, to December Term, 1761. is controlled 
by private interests, as is the Poll Books of the same county from 
1856 to 1869. Another "Docket" of Gloucester County, from 
1761 to 1765, was advertised to be sold by auction in Xew York 



in December last. The Clerk of Gloucester County recently 
wrote a member of this Committee, in part: "We are short of 
some records that should be here. There can be no excuse for 
anyone having any Court Records in their possession. They 
are the property of the county and should be here for anyone to 
examine." 

Certain "Minutes of the Courts of General Sessions of the 
Peace and Common Pleas for Middlesex County,'' 174&-1751, 
and other similar records belonging to that county are also pos- 
sessed by private interests. 

CITY RECORDS. 

During the past summer an effort was made to ascertain the 
extent of the Public records of certain cities, which have existed 
under one form of government or another for more than a 
century. The clerks of some of the cities responded in part as 
follows: Bridgeton — "Our city records do not extend back prior 
to the year 1855." 

Burlington — "To my knowledge the city has no records prior 
to 1825." This city was incorporated May 7, 1732. The orig- 
inal oaths of allegiance to King George II. of Great Britain, 
sworn to and subscribed by the mayor, common council, alder- 
men, and constables of Burlington, from 1735 to 1758, was sold 
at auction in New York in December, 191 6. 

Gloucester — "Our records go back to about 1850. Previous 
to this time I know nothing about." 

Jersey City — "Our records extend back to December 1, 

1832." 

Paterson — "In a fire, which wiped out the business section of 
Paterson in 1902 the City Hall was destroyed. All official 
records of the city prior to that date were lost." 

Perth Amboy — "The only thing I can find that looks like a 
public record prior to 1825 is one minor ordinance dated 18 18. 
There is not much in the way of record in my office for any 
period back of 1872, when the present charter of the city was 
granted by the State Legislature." This city was incorporated 
originally on August 4, 17 18. 



Plainfield — "I beg to say that the information you desire is 
not easily obtainable at the present time. Our facilities for fil- 
ing have been so limited that things have not been kept up in 
very good shape. We are, however, building a new City Hall 
which will probably be ready for occupancy in about a year. 
At that time all the documents which are now stored away in 
our vaults will be recatalogued and put in such shape that they 
can be easily examined." 

Railway — "The oldest records I have is the record of births, 
marriages and deaths, and they only go back to 1849." 

Salem — Mr. George W. Price, Secretary of the Historical 
Society of Salem County, writes in part : "Some years ago I 
made a persistent effort to find the early town records of Salem, 
but without result. They were extant in the 1860's, as shown 
by affidavits of persons who saw them, nevertheless I have been 
unable to find them in recent years." 

TOWN AND TOWNSHIP RECORDS. 

The following townships have existed under one form of 
government or another for more than a century, and the condi- 
tion of their public records are as follows : 

The record book of Saddle River Township, Bergen Count)', 
containing over three hundred manuscript pages, extending from 
1789 to 1836, alleged by Mr. William Nelson to have been cast 
out of the Passaic County Office, was sold at auction in New 
York City in November, 191 5. 

The records of Piscataway Township, Middlesex County, run- 
ning from 1896 to 1790, disappeared some time after 1850. 

The town clerk of Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, 
reports that his "Records go back to about 1666." Daily's His- 
tory of Woodbridge preface — page 3, shows that the first two 
volumes of these old records are in a dilapidated condition; and 
in 1859 a portion of these records were found, after their loss 
were extensively advertised and a reward offered by the town 
authorities for their return. 

The clerk of Bound Brook says : "The records in my posses- 
sion only date back from 1890, at which time this Borough was 



26 

incorporated; prior to that time it was under a Board of Com- 
missioners. I assume that these records may be examined at 
the Somerset County Clerk's Office." The County Clerk of 
Somerset County writes : "We have nothing in this office per- 
taining to the Public Records of Bound Brook." 

The only records of Middletown, Monmouth County, from 
1667 to near 1700, was reputed in 1872 to be in possession of 
the Town Clerk. 

The clerk of Middletown Township, Monmouth County, in- 
forms us : "There are no ancient records of Middletown Town- 
ship in my possession. Sometimes, about 1898, I understood that 
a number of the books of the Township were destroyed by fire, 
but I do not think there were any records destroyed prior to 1875. 
Where they are I am unable to tell as they were never handed to 
me. My records do not go back of 1898." 

"We have no records of the time you mention (1825)," says 
the clerk of Shrewsbury Township, in Monmouth County; con- 
tinuing, he adds, "You will probably find them at Trenton, if 
there are any." 

The town clerk of Freehold writes : "I am unable to give you 
any information relative to the records of the Town of Freehold 
prior to 1869." 

The borough clerk of Princeton says : "We have a record book 
commencing 181 3, Births and Deaths, &c, and records of 
council." 

The old record book of Maidenhead (now Lawrence) Town- 
ship, Mercer County, commencing in 1716, after remaining in 
private hands for a century was turned over to the clerk's office 
of Mercer county about 1909. 

The docket of Benjamin Smith, Justice of the Peace in Tren- 
ton, commencing in 1788, and also containing many records of 
marriages, was given away to private interests some years ago. 

The clerk of Northampton Township, Burlington County, by 
which township Mount Holly is governed, reports : "The earliest 
Minute Book which I am able to find in the vault dated only 

1847." 



The Chesterfield Township, Burlington County, record book, 
extending from December 15, 1692 to December 2, 171 1, was 
sold some years ago at public auction, and is now located in the 
District of Columbia. 

The record book of Mansfield Township, Burlington County, 
beginning January i, 1697, and ending September 15, 1773, was 
sold at a Philadelphia auction sale on April 25, 1906, for the 
sum of $100. 

NEW JERSEY NEW YORK RECORDS INSEPARABLE. 

It is not generally known by the average local historian in 
New Jersey, much less by its intelligent citizens, that a bulk of 
our earliest Colonial records — both under the Dutch and English 
regime — were retained in New York upon the separation of this 
Province from that government in 1738; and even since im- 
portant papers of a latter date are yet to be found among them. 
The record office of, East Jersey was not established at Perth 
Amboy until January 8, 1713; and it is uncertain when the 
records of West Jersey were directed to be kept in Burlington. 

These invaluable public papers relate both to East and West 
Jersey, and to the several town governments and people there )f, 
Among them will be found the original minutes of our first 
legislature ; messages and proclamations of, petitions ana me- 
morials to, the Governors ; privileges granted to the several 
towns, and the appointment or election of certain civil and 
military officers thereto for a series of years subsequent to 1672 ; 
census of these towns in 1673 \ organization of the several courts, 
proceedings thereof, and its decisions in the trial of various civil 
and criminal causes; military rolls and kindred papers; and 
sundry ecclesiastical matters and that relating to the social and 
economic condition of the people of New Jersey. 

Many years ago these papers were copied at the expense of a 
few thousand dollars of State funds, but the transcripts have 
been withheld by private parties, as have other transcripts which, 
by law, should be in the State's possession, costing many thou- 
sands of dollars. 



2$ 

Mutilation of Pubuc Records. 

The piratical practice of mutilating public records, by abstract- 
ing a manuscript page because it contans a rare .autograph of a 
distinguished person, or reference to a valuable historical item, 
cannot be too strongly condemned. Whether committed by a 
collector or for purpose of sale, the perpetration of this outrage 
is only too common. And the auction rooms advertise the crime. 
To illustrate, a well-known auction house in Philadelphia, a 
few years ago advertised to sell on a certain date a document 
bearing the scarce signature of John Hart. In the catalogue was 
added to the announcement : 

"An original page from the manuscript minutes of the 
Legislature of New Jersey, containing the resolution in 
reference to sending commissioners to the New Haven 
Convention, to regulate labor, manufactures, etc. Signet 
as Speaker of the House." 
In the same catalogue was listed another similar item, which 
read: 

"New Jersey Council of Safety. A page from the 
original Minute Book, containing Minutes of the Meeting 
held at Haddonfield, March 18 and 19, 1777." 
Again, a typical example of the vandalism which is com- 
mitted upon our public records is exhibited in Liber A of the 
Woodbridge Town Records. The first portion of this volume 
is made up of the original records of surveys, deeds and other 
legal instruments in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, extending 
from 1668 to 1 731; and the remaining part contains the pro- 
ceedings of the town meetings for about the same period. Yet 
some person had the temerity to disintegrate this record volume 
more than fifty years ago, and with his compliments presented the 
first portion thereof to certain private interests, which necessarily 
knew the manner in which these invaluable records were ob- 
tained. 



2g 

Prices Obtained by Sale oe Public Records. 

The value of public documents should not be established by 
the auctioneer. Nevertheless, there is an annual increased de- 
mand for the acquisition of manuscripts of all kinds, and the 
prices obtained for them at public sale is governed largely by 
many circumstances, especially their condition and the histori '.al 
importance of the subject they respectively contain. 

A general knowledge of the market value whch has been 
established at auction sales in recent years for some of our 
State documents will illustrate their importance as follows : 

The New Jersey Copy of the original deed authorizing the 
survey for the boundary between New York and New Jersey, 
accompanied with a manuscript map of the line, dated July 25, 
1 7 19, sold in 19 1 3 for $2,600.00. At the same sale the original 
agreement between the Governors of East and West Jersey, 
determining the boundary lines between these two provinces, 
dated September 5, 1688, brought $1,220.00. 

The original Minutes of the General Assembly between Sep- 
tember 26 and October 26, 1770, was purchased by the State 
for $16.00. 

The messages of the following Governors to the House of 
Assembly brought the prices specified : 

Gov. Belcher, January 13, 1747-8, $2.25; Gov. Boone, No- 
vember 28, 1760, 75 cents; and Acting-Governor Hamilton. 
June 16, 1746, $6.50. 

A Petition from the College of New Jersey to the General 
Assembly, January 2, 1781, brought $31.00; another one from 
the Inhabitants of Rahway, March 28, 1765, brought 30 cents; 
while one from Captain Daniel Neil and officers of the Eastern 
Artillery Company of New Jersey, September 16, 1776, sold 
for $15.00. 

The letter from Governor Franklin to his attorney-general, 
January 22, 1768, brought $6.50; while another to Council and 
the General Assembly, June 22, 1776, sold for $50.00. 

The letters from the following persons to Governor Living- 
ston sold for the prices affixed to them ; 



30 

General Nathaniel Heard, April 8, 1777, $2.50; and another 
from the same person, May 10, 1777, $10.00; Capt. Frederick 
Frelinghuysen, August 25, 1777, $35.00; General Silas New- 
comb, August 20, 1777, $5.50; Gen. Matthias Williamson, Sep- 
tember 26, 1776, $16.00; Gen. Israel Putmian, April 25, 1777, 
$29.00. 

The letter from Mahlon Dickerson to the Legislature, Octo- 
ber 27, 18 1 5, accepting the governorship, brought $2.20. The 
resignation of John DeHart as a member of Continental Con- 
gress in 1776 sold for $22.00. The Account of Abraham Clark 
against the State for his attendance in the Continental Congress 
from November 15, 1782, to October 31, 1783, brought $47.00. 
The report of the Commissioners for Building the Secretary's 
Office at Perth Amboy, October 8 to December 2, 1762, sold 
for $7.50. The pay warrant of Ellis Cook as a deputy in the 
Provincial Congress, March 2, 1776, brought $13.00. The docu- 
ment appointing Joseph Woodruff "Water BaylifTe and Public 
Notary of the County of Salem," August 26, 1703, sold for 
$23.00. And the application of Agnes Heard to the Middlesex 
County Court, July 21, 1761, to keep a public house, went for 
$2.00. 

Accessibility of Public Records. 

Generally there is no difficulty in gaining access to the public 
papers in any well-regulated record office. Where these public 
repositories are overcrowded, the records are not only insuf- 
ficiently protected against fire or theft, but they are not easily 
accessible. 

The situation is entirely different with the public records in 
private possession. If a person is granted permission to examine 
any public papers he is fortunate enough to locate in private 
possession, he miust be subjected to the vexatious delays incident 
in obtaining the desired permission, besides the traveling ex- 
penses attached thereto. In some many instances persons will 
positively deny that they have possession of any public records 
when they have ; and by other persons they will regard it as an 
intrusion to be asked the question. 



. 3* 

It is impossible for persons to gain access to public records 
possessed by private interests, such as historical and geneologi- 
cal societies, semi-public libraries and the like, unless you ire I 
member of the institution having them, duly elected and upon 
payment of the annual dues. Some exceptions are made to this 
general rule by certain institutions, as a matter of grace, how- 
ever, where persons desire access to special records for a limited 
time, providing you pay the fees they exact for the privilege. 
To illustrate, a member of this Committee during the past sum- 
mer asked permission from one of these institutions to examine 
the original Answer to the Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery, and 
he received the following reply: 

"In reply to your favor of the nth instant, this Society 
has in its possession the original manuscript of the Answer 
to the Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery. We will allow 
you to examine this manuscript in our Society building, 
but, as a non-member of the Society, we will have to 
charge you $i a day during the time that you are exam- 
ining it. It cannot be taken out of the office of the 
Society and we cannot under any circumstances permit it 
to be photographed.'' 
The famous original Elizabethtowm Bill of Chancery is prop- 
erly possessed by the Chancery Office in Trenton, while the 
original Answer thereto is unlawfully retained by certain private 
interests beyond the State, demanding fees from the citizens of 
Xew Jersey for the privilege of examining one of its own State 
documents. 

General Remarks. 

Thus we might continue to relate other innumerable details 
concerning the condition of our public records. We can only 
report what we said in the beginning — "Of all the States of the 
Union, Xew Jersey has premier cause and greatest need for care 
in protecting its records of the past, and in safeguarding the 
making of its records now and for the future." 

Where are the Public Credentials of Xew Jersey ? The original 



grants and kindred papers are in private possession, as are many 
of the original Journals of the General Assembly; the Journals 
of the Provincial Congress and of the Constitutional Convention 
of 1776; Messages and official Corespondence of the Governors; 
Petitions to the General Assembly ; Court Dockets and Minutes ; 
Town and Township Records; and other innumerable records 
and manuscripts of priceless value. 

They have all been abstracted from the official files, and many 
have been thrown out of public offices as junk by careless and 
ignorant officials. They have been given away by the sacred 
instrument of the last will and testament, and otherwise dis- 
posed of. They have been mutilated and destroyed for personal 
gain,* Again, many of these valuable historic records have been 
floating around the auction houses of the country for the past 
seventy years, sold and resold, and the spoils of the plunder 
divided between the auctioneers and the marauder. These con- 
ditions are startling and shocking to the senses of mankind in 
this age of civilization. The evil should be immediately stamped 
out for all time. 

No less abominable, however, is the condition of the public 
records of certain municipalities of the State, from whom we 
have been fortunate in obtaining any information whatever rela- 
tive to the extent of their archives and records. Take the cities 
of Perth Amboy and Burlington, for example. Their Clerks 
substantially tell us that they have no records for the first two 
hundred and fifty years of their incorporated existence ; and the 
records in most of the remaining municipalities we have specific- 
ally referred to, are practically in the same condition. 

The extent of the records in other political divisions of the 
State yet remains to be seen. If these conditions are not checked, 
the present records of many of these offices will be obliterated 
fifty years hence. 

The advanced position which New Jersey has taken upon 
educational lines through the annual appropriation of millions 
of dollars to enhance and extend our public school system, the 
rising generation is steadily preparing' for a far keener apprecia- 
tion of the history of the State and the neighborhood in which 



33 

they live, and nothing could be more cpnducive to their enlight- 
enment than the preservation, collation, retrievement, and the 
accessibility of our public records. 



The Proposition. 

The establishment of a Department of Public Records, as 
proposed in Senate Bill Xo. 248, is the only practical method, 
in our judgment, by which the evils associated with our Public 
Records can be eliminated. It will not necessarily be an expen- 
sive department to operate successfully. The bill speaks for 
itself. It provides full opportunity for investigating officially the 
condition and extent of all public records in every municipality 
of the State, by ascertaining what records are in proper control, 
which are missing and the cause and location thereof; the 
retrievement of all lost records and manuscripts ; collation of 
the State archives, and the acquisition of others by consent ; and 
the preservation of deteriorated and mutilated records, maps and 
other manuscripts. 

It gives the Commission, who are to serve without compensa- 
tion, authority to suggest to the Legislature such reforms, from 
time to time, as ma)' be beneficial to enact for the preservation 
and safeguarding of the public records. 

Very respectfully submitted, 

NELSON B. GASKILL, 
HIRAM E. DEATS, 
WILLIAM LIBBEY, 
JOSEPH S. FRELINGHUYSEN, 
WILLIAM M. JOHNSON, 
E. R. WALKER, 
CARLOS E. GODFREY, 
THOMAS S. CHAMBERS. 



RKC 



APPENDIX "A." 



Calendar of Public Papers selected from a thousand or more 
manuscripts in Private Possession. Figures in brackets 
indicate approximate years or number of letters. 



ROYAL GRANTS POWER OF GOVERNMENT, ETC. 

Original Lease for a year from James, Duke of York, to 
Lords Berkley and Carteret for the whole of New Jersey, June 
23, 1664. Original Release of the same, June 24, 1664. 

Original Lease for a year from James, Duke of York, to Sir 
George Carteret for half of the northern of New Jersey July 
28, 1674. Original Release of the same, July 29, 1674. 

Original Quintepartite Deed dividing the Province into East 
and West Jersey differently from the grant to Sir George 
Carteret in July, 1674, dated July 1, 1676. 

Original Release from James, Duke of York, to Sir George 
Carteret (the grandson and heir of the first Sir George) for all 
of East Jersey, dated Sept. 10, 1680. 

Original Release of Elizabeth Carteret, widow and Executrix, 
and the Trustees of Sir George, to the first Twelve Proprietors 
for all of East Jersey, Jan. 1, 1682. 

Original Release of James, Duke of York, to Edward Byl- 
linge, et al, for West Jersey, Aug. 6, 1680. 

"The Fundamental Constitutions" sent to the Province of 
New Jersey in 1683, by the Twenty- four Proprietors. 

Memorial of the Proprietors of East Jersey, with proposal 
upon which they offer to surrender their government to the 
Crown, July 5, 1698. 

Original instrument of the surrender of the powers of govern- 
ment of the Proprietors of East Jersey to King William III. in 
1702. 

35 



36 



INSTRUCTIONS TO THE} EXECUTIVE. 

To. Gov. Philip Carteret: July 31, 1674. 
To Gov. William Burnet: Nov. 30, 1721 ; June 3, 1722: Feb. 
23, 1723; Mar. 23, 1727. 

Executive messages to the council and general assembly. 

From Gov. Jonathan Belcher: Feb. 22, 1750. 
From Gov. Josiah Hardy: Jan. 8, 1762. 

Executive proclamations. 

From Gov. Jeremiah Basse: May 24, 1698. 

From Gov. Robert Hunter: Aug. 9, 1711; Dec. 28, 17 18. 

From Gov. William Burnet: July 23, 1726. 

\ 
Executive correspondence. 

Letter Books of Gov. Jonathan Belcher, September, 1747, to 
October, 1748; October, 1750, .to August, 1752; and July to 
December, 1755. 

Letter Books of Gov. Francis Bernard, 1 758-1 760. 

Correspondence of the Earl of Dartmouth to Gov. William 
Franklin, 1 773-1 775. 

Letter Books of Gov. Lewis Morris, May, 1739, to March, 
1746. 

Executive council. 

Minutes of the Governor's Council, Dec. 8-10, 1746; Mar. 
18-19, May 6-1 1, 1747. 

Manuscript Declaration and Protestation of the Governor and 
Council against James Carteret, May 28, 1672. 



37 



MINUTES OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND THE GENERAL 

ASSEMBLY. 

[Minutes of the Legislative Council: June 2-12, 1680; Oct. 
19 to Nov. 2, 1 681; Sept. 20 to Oct. 23, 1686; Mar. 12, 1687; 
Sept. 28, 1692. 

Minutes of the General Assembly: 1751-52; 1777-8-9; 
1780-1; 1782-84; 1786-88-90; 1806-8. 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY — MISCELLANEOUS. 

Return of the deputies elected to the General Assembly, May 
22 to June 2, 1680. 

Expulsion of William Douglass, member of the Legislative 
Council of Bergen, "on account of his being a Roman Catholic,'' 
June 10, 1680. 

Document signed and sealed by the High Sheriff of Mon- 
mouth County, Apr. 1, 1772, certifying to the election of Ed- 
ward Taylor and Richard Lawrence as Members of the General 
Assembly. 

PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS TO THE COUNCIL AND GENERAL 

ASSEMBLY &C. 

Petition to the General Assembly for a Lottery in Perth Am- 
boy, May 20, 1765. 

Petition of the Goaler at Burlington to the Governor and 
Council, April 20, 1771. 

Memorial of the Freeholders of Hunterdon County to their 
representatives in the General Assembly, May, 177L 

Petitions and Memorials of the Eastern and Western Pro- 
prietors of New Jersey to the Legislature in 1775. 

Petition from the Inhabitants of Toms River to the Council 
and General Assembly, Dec. 10, 1781. 

Petition from John Fitch to the Legislature, Mar. 14, 1786, 
requesting a grant of the exclusive privilege of constructing 
boats impelled by steam. 



38 

Memorial to the Legislature in behalf of Idiots, Epileptics and 
Insane Poor, 1845. 

COMMITTEE OF SAFETY. 

Votes and Proceedings of the Committee of Safety of New 
Jersey, January and March, 1776. 

Proceedings of the Committee of Safety of Shrewsbury, 
from May 27, 1775, to Mar 6, 1776. 

Proceedings of the Committee of Correspondence of Shrews- 
bury, May 27, 1775, to Mar. 6, 1776. 

Letter from the Committee of the People of Essex County 
to the Inhabitants of Monmouth County, June 13, 1774, com- 
menting on the events at Boston regarding American liberties, 
and recommending a general meeting at New Brunswick on 
July 21. 

Letter from the New York Committee of Safety to the Com- 
mittee of Safety of New Jersey, Sept. 27, 1775. 

Letter from Lprd Sterling to the Committee of Safety, Mar. 
x 7> I 77^* relative to the necessity of suspending the operation of 
the civil law during the campaign. 

Letter from the Committee of Inspection of Freehold to the 
Inhabitants of Shrewsbury, Mar. 6, 1775, urging the election of 
Delegates to the Provincial Congress. 

PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 

Minutes of the Committee of Safety and Provincial Congress, 
Jan. 11 to Feb. 6; Feb. 27 to Mar. 2; June 21 to July 23, 1776. 

Orders of the Provincial Congress and Convention of New 
Jersey relative to the militia, June 14 and Aug. 11, 1776. 

Articles of Association of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of 
Pequanock, Morris County, pledging to sustain the action of the 
Continental and Provincial Congresses, May, 1775. 

Pledge of certain officers of the 1st Militia Regiment of 
Middlesex County, Feb. 24, 1776, to carry into execution the 
orders of the Provincial Congress. 



39 



COUNCIL OF SAFETY. 



Memoranda of Evidence against Tories for the Council of 
Safety, Dec. i, 1776. 

Affidavit taken before the Council of Safety, Aug. 19, 1778, 
respecting the movement of the Indians on the frontiers. 

Letter from Gen. Philemon Dickinson to the Council of Safety, 
Sept. 7, 1778. 

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION — 1 776. 

Journals of the Convention which framed the first Constitu- 
tion of New Jersey in 1776. 



BOUNDARY LINES. 

Report of the Attorney-General on the ancient boundaries of 
the Province of New York, and showing the necessity of rean- 
nexing Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, 
Aug. 6, 1 69 1. 

Application for the Royal Approval of the Act of the Assem- 
bly for running the New Jersey-New York boundary line, 1753. 

Decision of the Commissioners to settle the boundary line be- 
tween New Jersey and New York, Oct. 7, 1769. 

CENSUS. 

Census of Elizabethtown, Newark, Woodbridge, Piscataway. 
Middletown and Shrewsbury, Sept. 14, 1673. 

CHURCHES. 

Letter from Gov. Hunter to the society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel, Dec. 5, 1712, relative to their purchase of the Tatham 
house and plantation at Burlington. 



40 

Petition of John Bishop, Henry Rolph and other freeholders 
and inhabitants of Woodbridge, for a license to build an Epis- 
copal Church, May 19, 17 14. 

Charter of the Baptist . Church in Hopewell, Hunterdon 
County, Dec. 5, 1769. 

civile OFFICERS. 

Return of June 30, 1680, showing that John Ward and others 
were chosen overseers of Newark. 

Return of New Jersey appointments, July 21, 30, 1680. 

Return of July 21, 1680, showing certain persons chosen over- 
seers of Piscataway. 

Return of the Town officers elected in Bergen, Aug. 17, 1680. 

Salaries of the necessary officers in New Jersey, Dec. 13, 1705. 

Return of the sheriffs of the several counties to be commis- 
sioned, Nov. 25, 171 1. 

COURTS. 

Gloucester County Docket — A — 1754. September Term, 1754 
to December Term, 1762. 

Minutes of the Courts of General Sessions of the Peace and 
Common Pleas of Middlesex County, July 19-20, 1748; July 

16-17, I75I- 

Proceedings of the Freeholders and Justices of Essex County 
from 1735 to 1789. 

Docket of Benj. Smith, Justice of the Peace in Trenton, be- 
ginning in 1788, which contains records of many marriages. 

Papers containing the indictment of John Fenwick for assum- 
ing to be Lord Chief Proprietor, his trial, sentence, and appeal 
to the King denied, between October, 1676, and Aug. 22, 1678. 

Names of the Justices and Clerk of the monthly courts at 
Elizabethtown, July 3, 1680. 

Proceedings of the Court of Sessions held at Piscataway, 
Sept. 3, 1680. 

Dates of commission of certain persons to be Judges of the 
Court of Common Right in Monmouth County, Dec. 30, 1692. 



41 

AYarrant issued at St. James appointing William Trent Chief 
Justice, Feb. 7, 1724. 

Decree of the Court of Chancery, Aug", jo, 1 744, in case of 
Daniel Smith vs. the Heirs and Executors of Gabriel Stelle. 



ELECTIONS. 

Schedule, of 'Votes cast in Sussex County in October, 1792, 
for representatives in Congress, Council and Assembly, and 
Sheriffs and Coroners. " ■ 

ELIZABETHTOWN BILL. 

Answer to the Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery. 

ESTATES. 

Petition of Thomas Olive, of Burlington, for letters of ad- 
ministration on the estate of Thomas Palmer, deceased, Oct. 
31, 1681. 

FERRIES. 

Petition of Joseph Fitz Randolph to the Assembly for exclu- 
sive ferry privileges between Staten Island and New Jersey, 
Apr. 23, 1729. 

Petition of xAnthony White, of New Jersey, to the Assembly 
for a ferry from Staten Island and Bergen Point, July 10, 1764. 

JUSTICES OE THE PEACE AND MAGISTRATES. 

Return of Magistrates elected in Bergen, Aug. 18, 1673 : Aug. 
25, 1674; July 27, 1 68 1. 

Return of the Magistrates of Burlington, May 21, 1680. 

Dates of commission of the several Justices of the Peace in 
Middlesex County in 1688. 



A 2 



UND TITLES. 



Claim of the Inhabitants of Newark in 1766, by virtue of 
Indian purchases made by the first settlers thereof in 1667. 

Opinion of the Council of East Jersey Proprietors concerning 
the invalidity of Nicoll's grants, and Indian purchases against 
the title of Berkley and Carteret, given in 1700. 

Authority from Lieut-Gov. Ingoldesby to John Rudyard to 
purchase land in West Jersey from the Indians, Nov. 17, 1703. 

LOAN OFFICE. 

Letter from Jona, Deare, Clerk of the General Assembly, to 
John Johnston, Nov. 23, iJ7'6, transmitting an Order of the 
House to transfer the Loan Office money to Richard Smith, 
Treasurer. 

Six Books of Accounts, Bonds, Mortgages, Etc., of the Com- 
missioners of the Loan Office for Burlington County from 1776 
to 1778, with Sinking Fund Quotos of the several townships 
in the county from 1775 to 1784. 

MILITIA. 

Return of the officers appointed for the town of Bergen, Sept. 

4, 1673. 

Return of the officers of Elizabethtown, Newark, Woodbridge, 
Piscataway, Middletown and Shrewsbury, Sept. 14, 1673. 

Military appointments for Freehold, Middletown, Shrewsbury, 
Manasquan and Shark River, Mar. 2, 1704. 

Muster Roll of Col. Richard Ing'oldesby's Independent Com- 
pany of Grenadiers, Oct. 25, 17 14. 

List of substitutes furnished by certain persons to be enlisted 
in His Majesty's service, August, 1746. 

Pay Roll of Captairf James Parker's Company, May 8, 1747. 

Orders to the officers of militia of Monmouth County to keep 
a watch at the highlands of Navisink, and to prepare signals 
and beacons, Apr. 24, 1755. 



43 

Muster Roll of Captain William Skinner's Company, on the 
northern frontier, May 6, 1755. 

List of officers recommended to the Provincial Congress for 
the 1st Somerset Regiment, Jan. 26, 1776. 

Return of the officers of the Third New Jersey Continental 
Regiment, Oct. 26, 1776, with notes of their professional ca- 
pacity. 

Return of General Newcomb's brigade, stationed at Wood- 
bury, November 18, 1777. 

Muster and Descriptive Roll of Col. Frelinghuysen's recruits 
for the New Jersey Continental Line, May 21, 1778. 

Order Book of Third New Jersey Continental Regiment, May 
26 to Sept. 4, 1779. 

PROPRIETORS OP EAST JERSEY. 

Order of the Proprietors directing an examination into the 
affairs of the Province, Oct. 21, 1685. 

Settlements by Receiver-General of the quit rents with the 
people of Newark, Achqueckennuck, Bergen, Hackensack, Saddle 
River, Woodbridge and Raritan River, 1707 to 1726. 

Book of Accounts of the Treasurers and Agents, Sept. 12, 
1 77 1, to July 11, 1842. 

PROPRIETORS OP WEST JERSEY. 

Instructions of William Penn and others to the Commis- 
sioners sent by them to West Jersey to arrange their affairs with 
John Fenwick, and provide for the survey and settlement of 
the country, Aug. 6, 1676. 

Account of the disposal of shares or proprieties by Edward 
Byllinge from Mar. 12, 1676, to Aug. 21, 1678. 

Protest of certain citizens to the Assembly against a body 
styling themselves a Council of Proprietors for West New Jer- 
sey, Dec. 11, 171 1. 

Letters from Lewis Morris to his son, Lewis Morris, Jr., 
dated Chelsea, Eng., Aug. 1 and 29, 1735, saying The West 



44 

Jersey Society requests all their books and papers, excepting 
bonds, be sent to England ; and requesting special information 
relative to the title of "Paraphilia," in Salem County. 

PROVINCIAL AGENTS. 

(20) Letters fromi Joseph Sherwood, Agent for the Province 
in England, to Samuel Smith, Treasurer, from 1761 to 1766. 

Letter from The Committee of the House of Assembly, Dec. 
7, 1769, informing Dr. Benjamin Franklin of his appointment 
as Agent of the Province of New Jersey in England. 

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. 

Accounts of Thomas Gordon, Receiver-General, of the reve- 
nue of the Colony of New Jersey for two years, June 23, 1712. 

Accounts of the Paupers maintained by the Township of 
Woodbridge from 1797 to 1801. 

Accounts of Col. Peter Schuyler, as Colonel and Paymaster 
of the New Jersey Regiment in 1759 and 1760, as settled by 
a Committee of the General Assembly. 

Accounts of Andrew Johnston, Treasurer of East Jersey, from 
December, 1761, to May, 1763, submitted by his executors to 
the Committee of the Assembly. 

Certificates of unpaid obligations of New Jersey, 1782. 

RATABLES. 

Ratables for Freehold Township, Monmouth County, in 1776. 

RIOTS, 

List of rioters in Middlesex County, called the Amboy Riot, 
August, 1747. 

List of persons indicted for high treason, in Amboy Riots, 
August, 1747. • 

List of persons indicted for riots in Somerset County Quarter 
Sessions, and removed into the Supreme Court, May, 1747. 



45 

List of rioters in Essex County returned upon a record of 
view filed in the Supreme Court in May Term, 1746. 

Affidavits of certain persons taken by the Council Oct. 11-16, 
1749, with reference to the riots in New Jersey, and the manner 
in which they pretend to hold their lands. The above five (5) 
papers laid before the Legislative Council by Gov. Belcher, 
Nov. 19, 1747. 

A statement of facts concerning- the riots and insurrections in 
Xew Jersey, and the remedies attempted by the Governor and the 
Legislature to put an end to them, reported to the Council Jan. 
9, 1748, and agreed to by them. 

TORIES. 

Warant of Gov. Livingston to arrest certain Tories, July 25, 
1777. 

Official estimates of the value of the property left by John 
Terrill, Philip Kearny, Thomas Crowell and others, refugees, 
I783- 

TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS. 

Book containing original records of survey, deeds and other 
legal instruments in Woodbridge from 1668 to 1731. 

Privileges granted by the Dutch Commissioners to the several 
towns in Xew Jersey Aug. 18, 1673. 

Directions of the Proprietors in England for laying out "Perth 
Towne" ( Perth Amboy), Sept. 21, 1683. 

Chesterfield Town Docket, Burlington County, Dec. 15, 1692, 
to Dec. 2, 1 71 1. 

The Poll of the freeholders of Hunterdon County, Oct. 9, 

1/38. 

Petition of 404 Inhabitants of Newark to the King in Council, 

I750. 

Assessments made in Middletown in 1761. 

Assessments made in Perth Amboy in 1801, 1803 and 1804.. 

Town Committee minutes of Newark from 181 1 to 18 r 5. 



4 6 

TREASURY. 

Deposition of Stephen Skinner, Treasurer of East Jersey, as 
to the robbery of his office, July 25, 1768. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Names of persons who took the oaths at Elizabethtown, 
Shrewsbury, Middletown, Piscataway, Newark and Woodbridge, 
September, 1673. 

"Propositions for ye Settlement of Paraphilia by the Gover- 
nor," 1699. Note: Pamphilia was in Salem County. 

Letter from Gov. Cornbury to the Inhabitants of Bergen, May 
16, 1706, calling for stockades to be built to repel an attack on 
New York from a French squadron. 

Letter from Thomas Gardiner, of Burlington, to Secretary 
Clarke, requesting him not to grant a license for the marriage 
of his daughter, May 3, 171 1. 

Papers concerning the jnstructions of the Governor and Coun- 
cil to Col. Abraham Van Camp of Sussex County, November, 
1754, to adopt measures for the protection of the inhabitants on 
the frontiers. 

Orders for the arrest of Petrus Smoke, Sheriff of Sussex 
County, and other persons for ousting Philip Swartwout from his 
lands, Oct. 11, 1759. 

Papers relating to lands and settlers on the Passaic River, etc., 
from 1756 to 1773. 

List of prisoners in Morristown Goal, August 1777, sent to 
the Governor and Council. 



APPENDIX B. 



Calendar of Public Papers selected from several thousand manu- 
scripts Sold or Offered for Sale in various Auction Houses 
since 1900. Figures in brackets indicate approximate years 
or number of letters. 



Executive messages to the council and general assembly 

or legislature. 

From Gov. Jonathan Belcher: Aug. 20, 1747; Nov. 19, 1747; 
Dec. 19, 1747; Jan. 13, 1748; Jan. 19, 1748; Feb. 17, 1748; 
Oct. 21, 1748; Nov. 28, 1748; Sept. 28, 1749; Oct. 5, 1749; 
Feb. 22, 1751; Apr. 29, 1754; Aug. 7, 1755; May 31, 1757; 
Aug. 29, 1757. 

From Gov. Francis Bernard: Mar. 10, 1759. 

From Gov. Joseph Bloomfield : Jan. 25, 181 1. 

From Gov. Thomas Boone: Nov. 28, 1760; Apr. I, 1761. 

From Gov. Mahlon Dickerson : Oct. 23, 1816. 

From Gov. William Franklin: Nov. 30, 1765; Nov. 21, 

1775- 

From Acting Gov. John Hamilton: June 16, 1746. 

From Gov. Josiah Hardy: Dec. 4, 1761 ; *Sept. 21, 1762; 
*Dec. 10, 1761. 

From Gov. William Livingston: Aug. 29, 1780: Sept. 28, 
1 78 1 : Dec. 9, 1782; June 12, 1783; Oct. 25, 1787; Jan. 8, 1790; 
May 19, 1792. 

From Gov. Lewis Morris: 1738; Oct. 1743. 

From Gov. William S. Pennington: Jan. n, 1815. 

From Acting Gov. John Reading: 1758. 

From Gov. Isaac H. Williamson: Nov. 4, 1817: Jan. t;, 
1818. 

47 



4 8 



Executive answers to the addresses oe the assembly. 

From Gov. Jonathan Belcher: Aug., 1747; Nov. 17, 1748. 
From Gov. Lewis Morris: 1738; 1740; (2) 1741; 1743; (2) 
1745. 

Executive proclamations. 

From Gov. William Burnett: Aug. 18', 1725; Apr. 3, 1727. 
From Acting Gov. John Hamilton: June 14, 1746. 

Executive correspondence. 

Gov. Jonathan Belcher. Letter from the Lord Commission- 
eis, Nov. 25, 1748. 

Gov. Joseph Bloomfield. Letter to Adjutant-General Hunt 
(no date). 

Gov. William Burnet : Letter from the Board of Trade, July 

9, 1723. 

Gov. William Franklin. Letter to Cortlandt Skinner, At- 
torney-General, Jan. 22, 1768; Letter to the Council and Gen- 
eral Assembly, June 22, 1776. 

Gov. Josiah Hardy. Letter to John Smith of Burlington, 
Nov. 8, 1762, giving, his reasons for a Constitutional Council 
in New Jersey. 

Gov. Richard Howell Letter from Thomas Jefferson, Apr. 
26, 1793; Letter from John Neilson, of New Brunswick, July 
20, 1793; Letter from Thomas Jefferson, Feb. 16, 1801. 

Gov. William Livingston. Letter from Elias Boudinot, Oct. 
23, 1782; Letter from the President of the Continental Con- 
gress, Dec. 14, 1779, April 13, 1783: Letter from the Secretary 
of the Continental Congress, July 17, 1782; Letter from the 
Continental Navy Board, Aug, 29, 1777; Letter from Col. Elias 
Dayton, May 5, 1777; Letter from Col, Samuel Forman, Apr. 
7, 1777; Letter from Frederick Frelinghuysen, Aug. 20, 1777; 
Letter from Gen. Alexander Hamilton, Sept. 26, 1789; Letter 
from Gen. Nathaniel Heard, Apr. 8, 1777; Letter from Robert 
L. Hooper, Nov. 1777; Letter from William C. Houston, Dec. 



49 

20, 1779; Letter from Thomas Jefferson, Aug. 18, 1790; Letter 
from Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, Oct. 23, 1782; Letter from Gen. 
William Maxwell, Jan. 24, 1777; Apr. 25, 1777; Letter from 
Chief Justice Robert Morris, July 5, and Xov. 12, 1777; Letter 
from Joseph Nourse, Jan. 19, 1778; Letter from Samuel Os- 
good, Sept. 1786; Letter from Gen. Israel Putnam, Apr. 25, 
1777; Letter from Justice Isaac Smith, Mar. 28, 1777; Letter 
from Gen. John Stark, Oct. 18, 1776; Letter from Gen. Adam 
Stephen. Oct. 22, 1776; Letter from Justice John Cleves 
Symmes, June 29, 1777; Feb. 14, 1780; Letter from Gen. 
George Washington, Sept. 3, 1781. 

Gov. William S. Pennington. Letter from Gen. Aaron Og- 
den, May 31, 1814; Letter from Joseph Bloomrield, June 30, 
1814. 

Gov. Thomas Pownell. Letter to Acting Gov. John Read- 
ing, Alar. 11, 1758. 

MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. 

Minutes of the Governor and Council, Sept. 26 to Oct. 26, 
1770; Alar. 11 to May 16, 1774: July 18, 1777, to Oct. 7, 1780; 
Xov. 9, 1780, to Feb. 29, 1796. 

executive — miscellany. 

A series of Manuscript Records, 1 708-1 734, comprising 
orders of the Governors, Lieutenant-Governors, Acts of Assem- 
bly, etc. 

Addresses of the Council and General Assembly to the Gov- 
ernors, and Messages of the Governors to the Council, etc., from 
1710 to 1749 — 18 pieces. 

MINUTES OE THE COUNCIL AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY. &C. 

Minutes of the Council and General Assembly, June 13 to 
Aug. 21, 1766; Apr. 12 to May 7, 1768; Apr. 24 to Aug. 2T, 

4 REC 



5o 

iyyi; Nov. 21 to Dec. 20, 1771 ; Aug. 21 to Sept. 17, 1772; 
1776. 

A page from the original Minutes of the General Assembly, 
containing the resolution for sending commissioners to the New 
Haven Convention to regulate labor, manufactures, etc., (1776) 
signed by John Hart, Speaker of the House. 

Minutes of a Council for the General Assembly, Oct. 2, 1694. 

Messages (3) of the Council to the House of Assembly in 
1749-50. 

LETTERS ADDRESSED TO THE COUNCIL,, GENERAL, ASSEMBLY OR 

LEGISLATURE. 

Letter from Charles Reed to Council, Sept. 7, 1757, saying 
that John Reading had refused to administer the government of 
New Jersey upon the death of Gov. Belcher. 

Letter from Justice Robert Morris to< the Assembly with ref- 
erence to the law limiting prices and withholding the necessities 
of life in New Jersey. 

Letter from John Hancock, President of Congress, to the 
General Assembly, Oct. 2, 1776. 

Letter from Gen. William Winds to the Legislature, Sept. 25, 
1777. 

Letter from the Officers of the New Jersey Brigade to the 
Legislature, July 30, 1778. 

Letter from Gov. Richard Howell to the Legislature, Nov. 
18, 1799. 

Letter from Oliver H. Perry, acknowledging the Vote of 
Thanks of the Legislature in 18 13. 

PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS TO THE GOVERNOR, COUNCIL AND 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

Petition from the owners of Bloomaries in Morris County, 
Oct. 6, 1 75 1, praying to be exempt from' tax. 

Petition from the Inhabitants of Hanover Township, Morris 
County, Mar. 9, 1756, concerning the frontiers and supporting 
troops by tax. , 



5i 

Petition from the Inhabitants of Princeton, Apr. n, 1758, 
praying that Barracks may be built there. 

' Petition from the Inhabitants of Burlington County, Mar. 8, 
1763, regarding the killing of sheep by dogs. 

Petition of the Inhabitants of Railway, Mar. 28. 1765, for 
erecting a dam on Railway River at Elizabethtown. 

Petition of the Inhabitants of Perth Amboy and Middlesex 
County, May 8, 1765, to rebuild the Court house at Perth 
Amboy. 

Petition by Rev. William Tennent, May 27, 1765, for reim- 
bursement for the removal of the Indians from Cranbury to 
Brotherton. 

Petition of Shepard' Kollock, asking to be appointed State 
Printer. 

Memorial of the Inhabitants of Bergen County, May 3, 1783, 
protesting to interpreting the 5th and 6th Articles of the Treaty 
with Great Britain, so as to allow traitors, felloes, robbers, 
murderers, etc., to return back and enjoy privileges of citizen- 
ship. 

Petition of the Inhabitants of Trenton and Nottingham, Fell. 
24, 1786, for corporate powers. 

Petition of the citizens of Perth Amboy, May 29, 1786, for 
the General Assembly to select that town for its sittings. 

Petition from the Inhabitants of Bethlehem Township,- Hun- 
terdon County, Oct. 16, 1794, against dividing the county. 

Petition of William Henry Harrison (9th President of the 
United States), Oct. 10, 1810, concerning his title to land in 
Xew Jersey. 

Memorial of Aaron Ogden, Oct. 29, 181 3, praying relief re- 
garding steamboat navigation. 

Petition of the Inhabitants of Maidenhead Township, Hunter- 
don County, Dec, 181 5, asking the name of the township be 
changed to "Lawrence." 



52 



CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 

Resolution of the Continental Congress addressed to the Con- 
vention of New Jersey in October, 1775, signed 'by the President 
and Secretary, calling for New Jersey troops in the Continental 
Army. 

Resignation of John DeHart as a Delegate in the Continental 
Congress, addressed to the General Assembly of New Jersey, 
dated Elizabethtown, Nov. 13, 1775, and giving reasons therefor. 

Resolves of the Continental Congress of June 2 and Sept. 10, 
1781, transmitted to the Legislature. 

Oaths of Allegiance of the Delegates of New Jersey in the 
Continental Congress, between 1781 and 1783, required by law. 

Receipt of Lambert Cadwalader to the State of New Jersey, 
Oct. 26, 1787, for pay as a Delegate in the Continental Con- 
gress. 

COMMITTEE OE SAEETY. 

Miscellaneous^ papers from the Monmouth County Committee 
of Safety, Oct., 1775, relative to the capture of the tender of 
the sloop-O'f-war "Viper." 

Certificate of John Hart to the payment of the salary of John 
Pope, .May 15, 1776, as a member of the Committee of Safety. 

Deposition of , Isaac Potter before the Committee of Safety, 
Apr. 7, 1777, against Joseph Salter, a Tory. 

Affidavits of various residents of New Jersey, giving evidence 
before the Committee of Safety against their townsmen, who 
were aiding and abetting the British, taken mostly before Gov. 
Livingston. 18 pieces. 

PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 

Order for the payment of salary to Jesse Hand, as a member 
of the New Jersey Provincial Congress, Feb. 27, 1776. 

Pay Warrant of Ellis Cook as a Deputy in the Provincial Con- 
gress, Mar. 8, 1776. 



53 

Several letters on various subjects addressed to the Provincial 
Congress in 1775 and 1776. 

COUNCIL OF SAFETY. 

Original Act of the General Assembly forming the Council 
of Safety, March 15, 1777, signed by John Hart, Speaker. 

A page from the Minutes of the Council of Safety, containing 
the minutes of Mar. 18 and 19, 1777. 

COSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1 787. 

Original Report of Peter Tallman concerning Articles of 
Federation and Union of the States. 

Authenticated copy of the Report of the Annapolis Conven- 
tion, Sept. 14, 1786, forwarded to the New Jersey Legislature, 
as to its decision as to the best mode of formulating a plan of 
Government or Constitution of the United States. 

Petition of the Delegates from New Jersey to the Constitu- 
tional Convention in Philadelphia to the Legislature, June 1, 
1787, asking to< be allowed to employ a secretary, messenger 
and doorkeeper. 

Original printed copy of the Constitution of the United States, 
transmitted to the Legislature by its delegates in the Constitu- 
tional Convention in 1787. 

Original copy of the Amendments proposed to be added to 
the Constitution in 1789, presented to the Legislature by the 
Congress of the United States. 



ACADEMIES AND COLLEGES. 



Petition by the Trustees of the Newark Academy to the Leg- 
islature, Nov. 11, 1794, for an act of incorporation. 

Petition to the Legislature in 1795 for a Lottery to complete 
the Academy in Nottingham. 



54 

Petition from the Trustees of the College of New Jersey 
(Princeton University) to the Legislature for a Lottery to 
raise $25,000 to establish a professorship in mathematics and 
astronomy. 

Petition of the College of New Jersey to the General Assem- 
bly, Jan. 2, 1 78 1, asking for a reduction in the quorum of Mem- 
bers of the Corporation, and relief for the damage done to the 
buildings by the enemy and by quartering the militia therein. 

BOUNDARY PAPERS. 

Agreement made between Daniel Coxe, Governor of West 
Jersey, and Robert Barclay, Governor of East Jersey, London, 
Sept. 5, 1688, determining the boundary lines between the two 
provinces. 

Manuscript Deed and Map, authorizing the survey for the 
boundary line between New Jersey and New York (New Jersey's 
Copy), dated July 25, 17 19. 

Brief of Claim on the part of New Jersey, and the proof 
offered in support of it, taken before Commissioners appointed 
by His Majesty, for settling the boundary line between that 
Province and New York; answers and objections thereto made 
by the Agents of New York, dated Sept. 28, 1769. 

Petition of the Eastern Proprietors to the Legislature, Dec. 6, 
1783, praying that the Lawrence Line ran in 1743 be confirmed 
and made final, against all- controversies. 

Documents (19) relative to the boundary line between East 
and West Jersey between 1775 and 1796; being mostly petitions 
to the General Assembly. 

CHURCHES. 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to build the Reformed 
Dutch Church of Bergen, 1794. 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to complete the Pres- 
byterian Church in Caldwell, 1795. 



55 . 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery in behalf of the First 
Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth. 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to rebuild St. John's 
Church in Elizabeth, 1803. 

Petition to the Legislature by Col. Samuel Forman for a 
Lottery of his farm for the benefit of the Episcopal Church of 
Fort Monmouth, 1795. 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to complete the 
Episcopal Church in New Brunswick, 1786. 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to complete the Pres- 
byterian Church and Academy in Newton, 1801. 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to rebuild the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in Perth Amboy, 1787. 

Vestry Minutes of St. Peter's Church at Perth Amboy, 1795- 
1796. 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to repair St. Peter's 
Episcopal Church at Spotswood, 1796. 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to finish the Pres- 
byterian Church in Trenton, 18 12. . 

Petition to the Legislature for a Lottery to build an addition 
to the First Presbyterian Church of Woodbridge, 1793. 

civil officers. 

Return of officers elected in Hopewell Township, Hunterdon 
County, Mar. 2, 1761, and signed 'John Hart. 

Resignation of Abraham Clark as Clerk of the House of 
Assembly, June 11, 1766. 

Certificate of election of Joel Fithian, Sheriff, and James 
Ewing and Joshua Brick, Coroners, in Cumberland County, Aug. 
11, 1776. 

Qualification of John Stevens as a member of the Legislature, 
Sept. 7, 1777. 

The Affirmations of Members of the General Assembly in 
1 778-1 779. 

The bonds of John Stevens as State Treasurer, Dec. it, 1781, 
and Dec. 20, 1782. 



56 

Certificate of pay to Abraham Clark as a member of the 
Assembly, Dec. 23, 1784. 

Oath of Maskell Ewing as Clerk of the General Assembly, 
Oct. 26, 179a 

Letter of Richard Howell to the Legislature, Nov. 1, 1798, 
accepting the office of Governor. 

Letters of Joseph Bloomfield to the Legislature, Oct. 25, 1804, 
and Oct. 2j, 1809, accepting the office of Governor. 

Letter of Mahlon Dickerson to the Legislature, Oct. 27, 181 5, 
accepting the office of Governor. 

COURTS. 

Docket Book of the Supreme Court, March Term, 1763, to 
September Term, 1770. 

Docket Book of the Burlington County Court, June Term, 
1765, to October Term, 1772. 

Docket Book of the Gloucester County Court, April Term, 
1 761,. to April Term, 1765. 

Docket Book of Garret Van Houten, Justice of the Peace in 
Bergen Township, Bergen County, from July 4, 181 2, to Sept. 
19, 1820. 

Record Book of cases for debt settled in court from June 13, 
18 1 2, to June 8, 18 14, kept by the Clerk of the Court in Trenton, 
300 pp. 

Application of Agnes Heard to the Middlesex County Court, 
July 21, 1 761, for license to keep a "Public House of Enter- 
tainment." 

Petition of certain lawyers to the General Assembly, May 30, 

1765, praying that Frederick Smyth might be retained as Chief 
Justice. 

Petition of Justice John Berrien to the Governor, June 16, 

1766, complaining of the Chief Justice appropriating all the fees 
of the Court. 

Petition from the Justices of the Supreme Court to the Legis- 
lature, Sept., 1779, praying that the Court may be fixed at some 
one place during the Revolutionary War 



57 

• 

Resignation of Joseph Bloomtiekl as Attorney-General of New 
Jersey, May 16, 1792. 

Resignation of Mahlon Dickerson as Justice of the Supreme 
Court, 181 5. 

Resignation of William Rossell as Justice of the Supreme 
Court (18—). 

ESTATES. 

Inventory of the Estate of Thomas Lambert, dated Feb. 24, 
1703, and signed by Gov. Cornbury. 

Petition of Samuel Dick of Salem County, to the Legislature, 
Oct. 2, 1780, concerning the inheritance of Job Shreeve. 

1 

HIGHWAYS. 

Petition of the Inhabitants of the City and County of Burling- 
ton to the General Assembly, Nov. 25, 1747, for altering the 
road to Cooper's Creek. 

Petition of the Inhabitants of Essex County to the General 
Assembly, Feb. 14, 1764, in reference to opening a new road for 
traveling between Philadelphia and New York. 

Petition of the Inhabitants of Elizabethtown to the Legisla- 
ture, May 28, 1765, for a road through Bergen. 

MIUTIA. 

Petitions of several Captains of the Somerset Militia to the 
Committee of Safety, July 31, 1775, relative to fines for neglect 
of militia duty. 

Petition of Officers of several companies of Minute-men in 
Monmouth Count}' to the Committee of Safety, Sept. 29, 1775, 
recommending officers for commission. 

Memorial of Jonathan Phillips and Philip Moore, of Maiden- 
head, to the Committee of Safety, Oct. 16, 1775, offering 
services of the Minute-men. 

Memorial of Aaron Longstreet, of Middlesex County, to the 
Committee of Safety, Oct. 18, 1775, offering his services as 
captain. 



58 

Recommendation for Field Officers by the Militia of Cape 
May County to the Provincial Congress, Oct. 22, 1775. 

Memorial of Seth Bowen of Cumberland County to the Pro- 
vincial Congress, Dec. 1, 1775, offering his services as captain. 

Application of Benjamin Whitall of Woodbury to the Com- 
mittee of Safety, Jan. 10, 1776, for a command in Col. Max- 
well's regiment. 

Petition of William Clark of Burlington to the Committee of 
Safety, Jan. 11, 1776, for a lieutenancy. 

Memorial of Major Ephraim Anderson of Hunterdon County 
to the Committee of Safety, Jan. 12, 1776, for the appointment 
of Field officer in Maxwell's regiment. 

Petition of the Officers 2d Battalion of Cumberland County 
MiLitia to the "Provincial Congress, Jan. 16, 1776, recommending 
field officers. 

Petition of the Inhabitants of Newark to the Provincial Con- 
gress, Apr. 8, 1776, recommending Captain Wheeler to command 
a company of grenadiers. 

Recommendations of the Monmouth County Committee of 
Safety, Apr. 17/1776, favoring the appointment of Captain 
Still well to be appointed captain of the first company to be raised 
in the county. 

Warrant of Abraham Clark on the Treasurer, Apr. 18, 1776, 
for payment of arms and military stores. 

Letter from Joseph Borden to the Convention of New Jersey, 
Aug. 11, 1776, giving number of troops raised in Burlington 
County, with names of the captains. 

Petition of Captain Daniel Neill and officers of the Eastern 
Artillery Company to Gov. Livingston, Sept. 16, 1776. 

Letter from Gen. Matthias Williamson to Gov. Livingston, 
Sept. 21, 1776, relative to the condition of the Eastern Artillery 
Company. 

Instructions from the Legislature to the Commissioners ap- 
pointed for raising Four Battalions for service in the Continental 
Army, 1776. 

Letter from the Field Officers of the 3d Battalion of Middle- 



59 

sex County Militia to the Council of Safety, 1776, recommend- 
ing certain persons for commission. 

Petition of the Commissioned -Officers of the several regi- 
ments in Monmouth County to the Legislature, Feb. 21, 1777, 
praying that Col. David Forman may be appointed brigade com- 
mander. 

An order given by the Council of Safety to Major Samuel 
Hayes of Essex County, July 10, 1777, for the apprehension of 
certain disaffected persons. 

Letter from Gen. Silas Newcomb to Gov. Livingston, Aug. 
20, 1777, giving an account of the capture by Major Ewing of 
certain persons of Downs Township, Cumberland county. 

Letter of Gov. Livingston to Gen. Silas Newcomb, Sept. 20, 
1 yyy, containing certain military instructions. 

Letter from Gen. David Forman to Gov. Livingston, June 9, 
1780, giving an account of the capture of Captain Barnes Smock 
and others. 

Instruction given by James Ewing, Auditor of Accounts, to 
John Little, Paymaster of the Gloucester Militia, Aug. 20, 1782. 

Remonstrance of the Officers of the New Jersey Brigade to 
the Legislature, May 23, 1783. 

Petition of Major John Conway to the Legislature, Nov. 13, 
1783, relative to the settlement of his accounts, and the history 
of his company. 

Official List of the Enrolled Militia in the Lower Springfield 
Company, Burlington County, made Aug. 31, 1801. 

OATH OF ALLEGIANCE. 

Oath' of Allegiance to King George II. sworn to and sub- 
scribed by the mayor, common council, aldermen, and constables 
of Burlington between 1735 and 1758. 

Oath of Allegiance to the United States taken by certain citi- 
zens of Sussex County, 1787-8. 

Oath of Allegiance of the Judges and Justices of Passaic 
County on its formation in 1837, with dates of commission and 
the time they were severally sworn in. 



6o 

PROVINCIAL AGENTS. 

Letter from Richard Partridge, English Agent of the Colony 
of New Jersey, London, Jan. 23, 1752, in reference to the sur- 
render of the government of New Jersey to the Crown in 1702. 

Accounts of Richard Partridge, English Agent of the Colony 
of New Jersey, with the Colony of New Jersey, Dec. 9, 1750, to 
Jan. 15, 1755. 

Order made in Council by Gov. William Franklin on the 
Treasurer, May 21, 1773, to pay Dr. Benjamin Franklin 25 
pounds proclamation money for services as Agent of the Prov- 
ince of New Jersey at the Court of Great Britain. 

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS, 

Accounts of Samuel Tucker, Treasurer of New Jersey, Feb. 

4, 1777. 

Public account rendered by Abraham Clark to Gov. Living- 
ston, Mar. 31, 1777. 

Account of John Cleves Symmes with the State of New Jer- 
sey for furnishing arms and clothing in 1777. 

Account rendered by Abraham Clark to the Treasurer of New 
Jersey, June 30, 1784, for his attendance as a Delegate in the 
Continental Congress from Nov. 15, 1782, to Oct. 31, 1783. 

Account of Josiah Hornblower with the State of New Jersey, 
Dec. 17, 1786, for his attendance in Congress. 

A letter from Abraham Clark to the Legislature, Oct. 20, 
1 79 1, giving a detailed statement of the Public Accounts of 
New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. 

Account of Abraham Clark with the State of New Jersey, 
Oct. 22, 1791. 

Account of William S. Pennington against the State for serv- 
ices as Circuit Court Judge, May 11, 1805. 

RATABLKS, 

Return of the Ratables for Saddle River Township, Bergen 
County, Aug. 20, 181 1. 



6i 

Return of the Ratables of the City of Perth Amboy, taken 
in July, 1786. 

REPORT. 

Report of the Commissioners for building the Secretary's 
Office at Perth Amboy, Oct. 8 to Dec. 2, 1762. 

Report of the New Jersey Commissioners appointed to quiet 
the mutiny in the New Jersey Brigade in January, 1781. 

Joint Report of the Commissioners of New Jersey and Penn- 
sylvania, settling the jurisdiction of the islands in the Delaware 
River, Dec. 2, 1785. 

slavery. 

Petitions (6) from the Inhabitants of Morris County to the 
Legislature, about 1800, asking the repeal of the Act of 1804 
for the gradual abolition of Slavery. 

Petitions (6) from the Inhabitants of Bergen County to the 
Legislature, about 1806, asking the repeal of the Act of 1804 
for the gradual abolition of Slavery. 

Petition from the Inhabitants of Burlington County to the 
Legislature, for an Act for the gradual abolition of Slavery in 
the State, dated 1796. 

Petition from the Inhabitants of Hunterdon County to the 
Legislature, for an Act for the gradual abolition of Slavery in 
the State, dated 1796. 

TORIES. 

List of suspected persons and Tories in Bergen County in 
1776. 

Petition of Daniel Grandin .and other Tories in Salem goal to 
the Governor and Council, Mar. 19, 1777, asking for a speedy 
trial. 

Letter from Gov. Livingston to Major Samuel Hayes, July 
10, 1777, furnishing the names of the disaffected persons to be 
apprehended by his command and returned to the Council of 
Safety. 



62 

Warrant given by Gov. Livingston for the arrest of suspected 
persons in Hunterdon County, July 31, 1777. 

Bond given to Gov. Livingston by Benjamin Barton of Sussex 
County, Aug. 29, 1777, agreeing to remain within two miles ot 
his house. 

Petition of Abraham Van Emburgh to the Legislature in 
1789, that he might be relieved of the inquisition found against 
him in 1778. 

TOWN AND TOWNSHIP RECORDS. 

Proceedings of a Town Meeting held in Elizabethtown, Mar. 
10, 1767, for appointing the Freeholders, Surveyors, and Over- 
seers of the Highways, Overseers of the Poor, and Assessors. 

Record Book of Mansfield Township, Burlington Couny, 
from Jan. 1, 1697, to Sept. 15, 1773. 

Minutes of the Town Meeting at Perth Amboy, Apr. 13, 

1795. 

Record Book of Saddle River Township, Bergen Court*/, 
from 1789 to 1836. 300 pp. 

Treasury. 

Papers (10) relating to the robbery of Jonathan Whilledin 
on Nov. 3, 1773, of money collected for taxes of Cape May 
County, with depositions. 

Petition of certain prominent citizens of New Jersey to the 
General Assembly, Jan. 12, 1774, requesting the removal of 
Stephen Skinner, Treasurer of New Jersey, for shortage of 
his official accounts. 

Papers (9) relating^ to the robbery of Samuel Tucker, Treas- 
urer of New Jersey, by the British, Nov. 30, 1776. Containing 
his letter to the Legislature, Jan, 20, 1777, explaining the affair, 
with affidavits. 

Documents (7) relative to the robbery of the State Treasury 
in October, 1903, with depositions of various persons; and re- 
port of the Committee appointed by the Legislature. 



63 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Sundry petitions to the Legislature by citizens asking to be re- 
imbursed out of Forfeited Estates for damages sustained in the 
Revolution; for clemency in the cases of several- Tories con- 
victed of treason and sentenced to be hung, etc. 

List of the Freeholders of Somerset County in 1753. 

Document appointing Joseph Woodruff "Water Bayliffe and 
Public Notary of the County of Salem," Aug. 26, 1703. 

Declaration by the Governor and Council denouncing the up- 
rising of the people against the Quakers, Sept. 8, 1682. 

General Return of the buildings in the State of New Jersey 
owned or rented by the United States, May 6, 1780. 

Warrant of Chief Justice Brearley to William Kelsey, Sheriff 
of Cumberland County, Dec. 1, 1780, for the arrest of Richard 
Howell, Attorney-at-law, for high treason. 

Petition of the Freeholders of Burlington County to the 
General Assembly, Nov. 23, 1775, asking to have a resolution 
passed to discourage Independency. 






M.1PQ1 









WeS 






= 



ffljffl® 



Bb 



H££a3£s8£ 



rag 




ill 



